Electrical equipment tends to have inherent inefficiencies that result in the conversion of some electrical energy to heat. This heat has to be addressed in some manner or the functional lifespan of the electrical equipment will be greatly reduced. In many scenarios, heat is removed by moving air through or proximate to the electrical equipment. For instance, computer systems and other information technology equipment use large volumes of air for cooling system components. In addition, many electronic components use heat sinks with high fin densities that require the cooling air to be filtered. Thus, intake air is often passed through a filter, such as a paper filter, to remove contaminants. The filters add cost and complexity to the overall system and cost and complexity to system maintenance since the filter has to be changed or cleaned. Also, filters increase the pressure drop across the system and thus more energy is used to achieve the same air flow. More importantly, the increase in pressure drop is not constant in that as the filter gets dirtier, airflow through the filter is further hampered and may not be sufficient for system requirements or more fan power is required to compensate for the increased pressure drop.